Inmates mistakenly released after computer system glitch

Criminal case management system error causes three prisoners to be set free

Indianapolis, IN (WXIN) -- Marion County sheriff's deputies spent Thursday looking for jail inmates released due to errors in a new criminal court case management system that had criminal justice officials in meetings all day searching for answers.

As of late Thursday night, only Ronald Johnson remained on the loose after being released while facing a Theft/Receiving Stolen Property charge.

"We had three people who were released from the jail," said Marion County Sheriff's Colonel Louis Dezelan. "Our information we had on this side is that they should've been released. That is the information that we had. What we didn't have was the follow up information that countered that."

The inmates were ordered released based on information in the Marion County court's Odyssey system. Odyssey recently replaced the antiquated JUSTIS system that kept track of offenders and the status of their criminal court cases.

Court Administrator Andrea Newsom told FOX59 News that her staff and criminal justice system partners were working with the contractor and proprietor of the Odyssey system to determine if a software conversion led to the mistaken releases.

"There is a learning curve," Newsom said about the training of county employees on the new system. She indicated since June 6 that the system experienced a "soft go live," which would be indicative of a gradual transition between the old system and the new system.

Update: Police say they now have two men of the men who were mistakenly released from the jail back in custody.

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